


Just One Question

by AmeliaPonders



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Marriage Proposal, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 03:22:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9053161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmeliaPonders/pseuds/AmeliaPonders
Summary: The Doctor and Rose have some questions for each other this Christmas. Well, actually, just one question.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A DWSS gift for whatisyourlefteyebrowdoingdavid on tumblr. Merry Christmas, and I hope you enjoy this fic!
> 
> Unbeta'd. All mistakes are mine.

“Rose, trust me. He’s going to love it.” Donna places her hand on her friend’s wrist, gently pulling Rose’s hand away from her mouth so she won’t chew her nail down to the quick. The Doctor is back on the TARDIS, tinkering away at something or another (neither of the women really payed attention to his description) while Rose and Donna amble through the charming cobblestone streets of the central marketplace on Cafarnia, a small planet in the Fermi 87 galaxy populated by many of Earth’s mythical creatures. It reminds Rose of an eco-friendly, ash-free version of Victorian London… with leprechauns and the occasional talking rabbit.

“Yeah?” she asks Donna, trying and failing to hide the slight shake in her voice. “It’s just that it’s not exactly the traditional way of going about this, and--”

Donna interrupts her with a scoff. “First of all, you should know by now that there’s no such thing as one “traditional way,” Rose. I mean, blimey, look where we’re standing! Every planet and every time we visit is different.” Proving her point, a seven-foot-tall woman who looks like a humanoid unicorn, complete with the horn sticking out of her head, passes by them.

Rose nods, but still looks nervous. “I just don’t want him to feel like I’m forcing him into anything.”

Donna stops where she is standing, throwing up her hands in frustration and accidentally smacking a passerby in the process. The man, who appears to be a werewolf, growls at her and tells her to watch herself, but Donna pays him no mind and addresses Rose instead. “I swear, the pair of you,” she exclaims. “You both get all nervous when it comes to big steps in your relationship and it’s daft.” She spots a little café on the corner and starts directing her friend that way. Rose follows blindly, still lost in thought as Donna keeps talking. “I thought it was kind of cute at first, but then when the Doctor wanted you to move into his room on the TARDIS, he put all his anxious energy into re-planting the entire north wing garden and made me help. By the time he worked up the nerve to ask you, my face had swelled up like a balloon from an allergy to one of those alien curly flowers and I was ready to kill him.”

“I always wondered what brought that gardening thing on,” Rose responds with a laugh.

“Oi, you’re no better, missy. Don’t think I don’t know that your hours-long shopping trip with Jack last time he was on board was about anything other than him helping you pick out lingerie for your first shag with the Doctor.”

“Donna!” Rose blushes, but then giggles. “That shopping trip turned out to be very successful, thank you very much.” Donna joins in her laughter as they enter the café.

“Rose, you really don’t need to worry about this,” she says as they are led to a table by a cartoonish dragon.

“You’re so perfect for each other it practically makes me gag,” Donna continues. “Though not as much as whatever they tried to say was chocolate in that shop on Belzimon Prime last week.” She and Rose both wrinkle their noses in disgust.

“Don’t remind me. I’ve done my share of throwing up for a while, thanks.” 

Donna looks at her pointedly and Rose rolls her eyes. “Okay, I know how that sounded.” Donna raises her eyebrow anyway. “Oh, blimey, Donna, I ain’t up the duff, you nutter!”

“Ooh, the accent’s comin’ out, Blondie, now I know you really mean business,” Donna laughs back, her own London accent becoming a bit more pronounced. “Come on, let’s relax, have some lunch and figure out how you’re going to propose to that daft spaceman of yours.”

****

An hour later, they’ve eaten, gotten a bit tipsy on some delicious Cafarnian red wine, and come up with a plan for Rose’s marriage proposal to the Doctor. They leave the café and head back out into the marketplace for the necessary supplies. Rose is still a bit incredulous that she’s actually going to do this, but she couldn’t be happier. Donna’s right, she and the Doctor love each other so much that it’s obvious to anyone who knows them. Rose is completely confident that will never change. Thanks to Bad Wolf, her lifespan just about matches his, and the Doctor’s many tests on her in the med bay suggested she would likely be able to regenerate as well. The prospect of being with someone for potentially thousands of years might sound ridiculous or terrifying to many. But Rose knows that, despite the normal challenges any couple faces as well as some unique to their jeopardy-friendly lifestyle, they will be happy. She is confident that five hundred years down the line, she and the Doctor will still be just as in love as they are now.

Re-focusing on the task at hand, Rose goes into a shop. It’s manned by an old wizard with bright, kind eyes who is almost a dead ringer for Albus Dumbledore from Harry Potter. This puts Rose at ease and she confidently strides over to him. “Hello,” she chirps with a friendly wave. “I was wondering if you’ve got any rings for sale. I’m planning on asking my boyfriend to marry me.” She can’t help the grin and slight blush that light up her face as she says this out loud to a stranger for the first time. “Oh! And boxes. I need boxes.”

The wizard smiles and nods as Rose explains her plan to give the Doctor a series of increasingly meaningful trinkets she’s collected throughout their travels. She plans to arrange each box within a larger box, like nesting dolls, but each will have a little something in it in addition to the next box in the set. When the Doctor finally gets to the most important, final box, he’ll find a ring. Rose thinks this kind of thing was a bit cheesy if she’s honest, but the Doctor would absolutely love it. It’s just the sort of whimsical game he delights in, and when Donna suggested it, Rose knew she had to do it. “Sounds lovely, miss,” the wizard tells her. “I think I have what you need.” With a wink, he disappears into a back room of the shop.

A few minutes later, he brings out a delicate velvet-lined tray with a wide selection of rings nestled in individual openings. Even though they’re men’s rings (at least by Donna and Rose’s early-21st century Earth customs) and not really Donna’s style, Donna gasps at their beauty nonetheless. Rose chuckles at her, but is also pleased at her friend’s reaction. If picky Donna can be this impressed by the selection, the Doctor is bound to love whichever one Rose chooses. She runs her fingers over each one with an air of reverence. She thinks it’s going to take ages to decide which to get for the Doctor, but as soon as she sees The One near the back of the tray, she knows. The ring is titanium, studded with small gemstones, half of them blue and half gold, neither something Rose has ever seen before. It’s as if this simple-looking ring has a hidden depth. Mystery, beauty, and strength all rolled into one. It’s perfect. 

Rose tries not to tear up as she points to the ring and tells the wizard what size she needs. Noticing Donna fighting tears herself, Rose loses her own battle and feels moisture slide down her cheek. The wizard gives her a smile and a gentle pat on the arm before he heads to the back room with the ring to size it. Rose and Donna turn to each other and embrace wordlessly, overcome with emotion. Finally, Donna whispers, “I’m so happy for you both.”

Moments later, the wizard returns with the ring as well as a selection of lovely trinket boxes from across the galaxy in a wide range of shapes and sizes. Given the vaguely Victorian air about this planet, most of the boxes are intricately carved wooden affairs, and Rose loves them. In fact, they inspire another part of her plan that she’ll have the TARDIS help her out with later. 

Once Rose makes her purchases, they thank the kindly wizard and head back to the TARDIS. Rose is thrilled that everything seems to be coming together, until…

“So, Blondie, when’re you gonna ask him?”

Oh. Right. There’s nothing left for her to do but pick a day and _actually ask the Doctor to marry her._ Rose does an about face and heads back towards the cafe they ate at earlier. “I think I need another drink before we go.” 

****

Donna sighs contentedly as she settles onto her bed with a magazine. It’s been a long day, albeit a fun and exciting one, but she’s ready to kick back and have some time to herself. No nervous girlfriends or daft Time Lords for a little whi--

_Knock, knock, knock._

“Donna? You in there?” 

She sighs again, decidedly less contented this time, and marches across the room. She knows he won’t leave her alone even if she ignores him. 

“What is it, Spaceman?” She says, pointedly tapping her foot as she opens the door for him. The Doctor raises his eyebrow as he takes in the sight of her. “Oh, put that thing away. Yes, I’m wearin’ ducky pyjamas and a mud mask. That’s what happens when you bother a girl who is TRYING TO HAVE SOME BLOODY RELAXATION TIME.”

“Sorry, sorry,” the Doctor stammers, “I’ll, um, just come back later then, I suppose.” 

Donna takes in his disheveled hair, obviously messy from his nervous fingers constantly running through it like they are right now. He bounces on his heels like he wants to run but can’t quite bring himself to do it. There is clearly something bothering her best mate, and she takes pity on him. “No, Doctor. You’re here now. What is it?”

“Weeelll, it’s nothing really. Just that I’ve got something I need your help with and I’d have Rose help me with it, but I can’t do that for reasons that will become clear in a few moments, and--”

“Doctor. I wanna get back to reading my Cosmo. Other than shutting up that gob of yours, what can I help you with?”

He rubs the back of his neck frantically, every one of his nervous tics coming out now.

“I want to ask Rose to marry me.”

****

Donna returns to her room completely filthy after spending the last forty-five minutes with the Doctor in, of all places, the north wing garden (thankfully, the alien curly flowers she’s allergic to aren’t there anymore). Apparently, he just can’t have conversations about relationship milestones without repotting plants. 

Whereas Rose needed Donna’s help in coming up with a plan for how to propose to the Doctor, the Doctor needed her help in narrowing down his several dozen ideas to just one. Donna immediately nixed the first eight, which all required some version of pyrotechnics. She also eliminated any and all ideas that involved singing. The Doctor was good at many, many things but he couldn’t carry a tune to save all his lives. 

Once he was done pouting over Donna’s description of his singing skills, the Doctor had turned to her with a plaintive, vulnerable countenance. “I just want it to be perfect, Donna,” he said in a quiet voice. “I love her so much.” 

Looking at those big, sad eyes, Donna hadn’t even had it in her heart to tease him about being a sap. Instead, she put her hand on his arm and replied earnestly, “I know, Doctor. And I know that Rose will love your proposal. Even if you bollocks it all up, she’ll be too over the moon to care.” He’d tossed some soil on her clothes for that one.

After taking her second shower of the evening, Donna is finally back in bed with her magazine. She can’t really concentrate on it, though, because she is still thinking about her best friends. She hopes her little plan works, and that both of them can actually keep a secret for another couple of weeks. If all goes well, then on Christmas morning, both Rose and the Doctor are going to get the surprises of their lives.


	2. Chapter 2

_Christmas Morning_

Rose awakes to the feel of the Doctor gently stroking her hair, something he knows she loves. She opens her eyes and grins at him, then sucks in a breath at the depth of feeling she finds staring back at her. Like nothing in time and space matters to him except her. She feels so loved it almost makes her tear up.

“Good morning, love,” the Doctor murmurs, voice rough with emotion. She notices the hand against her hair is shaking a bit, but before she can ask him why, he tells her “Happy Christmas” and Rose freezes for a second.

Christmas. The day she’s going to propose to the Doctor. She tries to regain her composure, to act like it’s any other Christmas. They’ll open presents under the TARDIS tree with Donna, all clad in silly Christmas pyjamas, before dropping her off at her mum’s and heading to Jackie’s. Except this year, by the time they get to Jackie’s, Rose and the Doctor will be engaged. Rose almost says “holy shit” out loud at this scary but completely wonderful realization, and to stop herself, she leans into the Doctor and kisses him hard. “Happy Christmas, Doctor,” she giggles when they break. 

He dives back in for another kiss. The familiarity and warmth of his lips help put Rose at ease. She doesn’t realize that he chose to kiss her for the exact same reassurance. After all, the Doctor’s quite nervous. He’s proposing to Rose today. But despite his nerves, he’s also so excited that he needs to celebrate. Making out with his future fiancee is the best way he can think of to do that right now. 

His hand slips under her pyjama top and gently cups her breast, making Rose moan into his mouth. He feels her hand slide down his leg, heading towards where he wants it most, but then she stops abruptly and pulls away from him completely. “Um, Doctor? As much as I love where this is headed, we should probably stop. I think Donna’s waitin’ on us, yeah?”

The Doctor shakes his head a bit in an attempt to regain some blood in the upper half of his body and looks at Rose. It’s unlike her to stop things like this so suddenly. Is there something she’s not telling him? Has he somehow upset her? Has she caught on to what he’s planning later? Oh gods, what if she is going to say no?! He’s so close to full-on panic that he jumps out of bed. “Right you are, Rose Tyler! Busy day, lots of celebrating to do, and Donna will have our heads if we aren’t in the library when we said we’d be! Why don’t you go shower and I’ll make us all some cocoa.”

He dashes out of the room and nearly falls on his face as he sprints to Donna’s room and knocks on the door. Before she even opens it, he hears her put-upon voice. “Stop panickin’, Spaceman.” 

“But Donna, what if she says no?”

Donna has opened the door now, and looks almost bored. “She’s not going to say no, Doctor. Just stick to the plan.”

“Right, right, the plan! Plans are good. Very helpful things, plans. What is the plan again?”

Donna rolls her eyes, then grabs him by the shoulders and shakes him hard. “Doctor, get a grip. We’ve been over this. We’re going to meet in the library for prezzies like usual, then I’m going to tell Rose to come help me pick out what to wear to my mum’s to impress the cute neighbor bloke. While we’re gone, you get dressed into the tux, and when we get back, I’ll leave and you propose. Easy peasy.”

“I should’ve never let you talk me into wearing the tux of doom for this.”

“Oh hush, Rose thinks you look fit in it. Besides, after this it won’t be the tux of doom anymore, numpty, because she is going to say yes. Now look at me. Breathe. Go do whatever you told Rose you were doing right now, and then go to the library. It’ll be fine.”

The Doctor nods and starts scurrying back down the corridor towards the galley, nearly falling on his face twice as he goes.

****

Present time for the three of them is its usual silly fun, filled with plenty of gag gifts to go along with the real ones. Donna tries not to smirk at both Rose’s and the Doctor’s nerves and does her best to calm each of them whenever she can without making it too obvious. Finally, the big moment(s) have arrived. Donna a-bit-too-loudly tells Rose she needs help picking an outfit to wear to her mum’s and hurries her out of the library. She hears the Doctor scrambling around almost before they leave the room, but Rose is too preoccupied to look back.

The women hurry away, Rose to the TARDIS wardrobe room and Donna to her bedroom to get the “bigger on the inside” nested boxes that held the Doctor’s engagement ring. 

Once Donna joins her friend in the wardrobe room, Rose is putting the finishing touches on her makeup. She’s stunning in a red, strapless Victorian-style dress with black corseted bodice. “Oh, Rose,” Donna breathes.

“I wore this dress the first time the Doctor brought me somewhere at Christmas. I’d only just started traveling with him, and when we were about to be killed by some ghosts made of gas, he took my hand and told me he was so glad he met me. I fell in love with him right then.”

“I think I’ve been traveling with you two for too long, because none of that sentence was odd to me,” Donna quips. “Now c’mon. Time for you to propose to that daft alien of yours.”

Donna calculates that it’s been about fifteen minutes, plenty of time for the Doctor to get ready for his proposal. She feels herself actually getting a bit nervous; she really wants this dual proposal thing to work out for her friends. 

****

As Rose approaches the library, the butterflies in her stomach are fluttering away. Anticipation, nerves, excitement, love, and joy all bounce through her system. She takes a deep breath, opens the door, and…

****

_At the same time_

The Doctor smooths his tux one more time and looks around the library. He has moved tables from around the room to surround the Christmas tree. They’re filled with framed photos of the two of them, from his current body as well as his previous one. He paces nervously, frequently tapping his pocket to ensure the ring is still there. Somehow, he manages to stay in one place once he hears Rose and Donna approaching again. The door opens and the Doctor’s breath is taken away. 

Donna gives him a little wink as she shuts the door on them. The Doctor takes in the breathtaking sight of his Rose, carrying a small, wrapped present. She’s wearing the same dress she wore the night he fell in love with her. He figures the TARDIS and Donna must’ve convinced her to wear it, and he sends a telepathic message of thanks to his ship. The TARDIS’ response is somewhat peculiar. She acknowledges his thanks, but also sends a sort of impish “I’ve got a secret” feeling his way as well. The Doctor barely registers it though, because Rose is now standing in front of him, smiling shyly and reaching for his hands. His fingers lace through hers and…

****

Rose’s eyes widen as she takes in the sight of her Doctor in a tux, standing in front of their Christmas tree and surrounded by photos depicting some of their happiest memories together. She isn’t expecting this. Donna and the TARDIS must’ve orchestrated it somehow. She quirks her head at the TARDIS’ response to the quick thanks Rose sends her; it’s a bit odd. But no matter. She’s reached the Doctor now. He’s smiling at her in a way that makes her shiver.

“Oh, Rose. You look beautiful.”

“So do you, my Doctor.” She gestures to the photos. “Did Donna put you up to this?”

He nods. “I was just about to ask you the same thing about your dress.”

“Yup. TARDIS helped, too. I guess they wanted this moment to be extra special.”

“Yes indeed.” The Doctor furrows his brow for a second. Wait, did Donna let the cat out of the bag? Does Rose know what’s about to happen? Well, at this point, he supposes it doesn’t matter. In fact, neither does the speech he had prepared. All that matters is Rose, and that she says yes to just one question. He takes a deep breath, squeezes her hands and…

****

Everything she’s planned to say has fallen out of her brain, except four little words. Rose puts the present down and reaches for his hands, needing to feel his steadying touch as she does this, and is relieved to feel his fingers lace through hers. Trying not to cry (yet), she looks up at him and…

****

They ask the question at the same time. 

They answer at the same time, too.

Telling the story of their engagement becomes a Christmas tradition, one that their friends, and later their children and grandchildren, look forward to every year.

THE END


End file.
